King Houndekpinkou
King Houndekpinkou (b: 1987) is a Paris-based Franco-Beninese artist whose work focuses on ceramic.
His work interprets the notion of the vessel as a sculptural base reflecting ideas on the relationship between the everyday, the visceral, and the sacred. Each piece begins at the potter's wheel where Houndekpinkou throws cups, bottles, plates, bowls, or vases. These component parts are then conjoined into non-functional vessels that are richly hued, with an intricate texture.
Houndekpinkou's work draws on Beninese Voodoo traditions and Japanese Shinto, with influences from contemporary Japanese animated cinema culture. Reflecting on the African Diaspora of his generation-who have both the challenge and the opportunity to slide from one culture border to the other, he is at ease to contribute to the decolonization of art discourse, embracing unexpected hybridities and adopting the peripheralized expression of the ceramic practice.
Trained under Bizen-based Japanese master Toshiaki Shibuta, Houndekpinkou developed Terres Jumelles, a program that consists in fostering cross-cultural dialogue between the various pottery sites of Benin and Japan. His works were exhibited, among other institutions, at Gyeonggi Ceramic Museum and the 10th Korean International Ceramic Biennale (both in South Korea), Guozhong Ceramic Art Museum, Beijing (China), Boca Raton Museum (USA), Fondation Donwahi (Ivory Coast)
